Tokyo governor says no nuclear threat to 2020 bid

This Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 aerial photo shows the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant at Okuma in Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. The Japanese nuclear watchdog proposed Wednesday to define a fresh leakage of highly radioactive leak from one of the hundreds of storage tanks at Japan’s crippled atomic power plant this week, its worst leak yet from such a vessel. The operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant said Tuesday said about 300 tons (300,000 liters, 80,000 gallons) of contaminated water have leaked from a steel storage tank at the wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. TEPCO hasn’t figured out how or where the water leaked, but suspects it did so through a seam on the tank or a valve connected to a gutter around the tank. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

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TOKYO (AP) — A leak of highly radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant will not affect Tokyo's bid to host the 2020 Olympics, Tokyo Governor Naoki Inose said Friday.

About 300 tons (300,000 liters; 80,000 gallons) of contaminated water was found to have leaked from one of the tanks at the wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi plant on Monday. The leak is the fifth, and the worst, since last year, but Inose said it is not a threat to Tokyo's Olympic plans.

"Regarding food and water in Tokyo there is absolute safety and the data is available," Inose said. "As far as hosting the games, the situation in Fukushima will not affect Tokyo."

Tokyo, Istanbul and Madrid are bidding to host the 2020 Olympics. The IOC will select the host city by secret ballot on Sept. 7 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Inose said data shows that radiation levels in Tokyo are the same as London, Paris and New York. Fukushima is 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Tokyo.

The plant suffered multiple meltdowns following a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 — a level 7 "major accident" and the worst since Chernobyl in 1986.

Japan is pledging tighter nuclear safety. Most of Japan's nuclear plants remain closed after they were shut down for safety checks after the Fukushima disaster.